Warp drawing apparatus and method



Feb. 4, 1941. E. c. KlEKE WARP bRAwINe APPARATUS AND METHOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 3, 1939 Ismaentorfi ERW/H C. K/EKE (Ittorneg Feb. 4, 1941.

E. c. KIEKE 2,230,494-

WARP DRAWING APPARATUS ANDMETHOD Filed Jan. 3, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Bnnentor:

ERWIN C. K/E'KE 5r gwdtvt (Ittorneg Feb. 4, 1941. E. c. KlEKE WARP DRAWING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Jan. 3, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet s Junentor, E 2 WIN C. K/EKE Gttorueg Feb. 4, 1941. E. c. KIEKE WARP DRAWING APPARATUS AND METHOD Fil ed Jan. 5, 19:59

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3nnentor; ERW/N C. KI E'KE (Ittomeg Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES WARP DRAWING APPARATUS AND METHOD Erwin C. Kieke, Dallas, Tex., assignor to The Dallas Cotton Mills Company, Dallas, Tex., a

corporation of Texas Application January 3, 1939, Serial No. 249,009

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a drawing-in machine and more especially to a machine which has means for facilitating the preparation of warps for installation in a loom. More specifically, the invention relates to a machine which is used for drawing the free ends of a warp beam through the drop wires, heddle eyes, and loom reed prior to these parts being installed in a loom for use.

Heretofore, various attachments have been provided for drawing in warp ends through cotton harness. Since this harness is made from flexible material, there is practically no danger of the drawing-in needle becoming broken, should the cotton harness eye be improperly centered'at the time the needle reciprocates. Due to the fact that these harness are constructed of cotton or other fibrous materials their life is necessarily limited, and as a result, the harness has to be 20 replaced after being used a comparatively short length of time. Replacing these cotton harness is expensive, therefore the recent trend has been in favor of using steel heddles in place of cotton harness, because they have a much greater life.

25 By using steel heddles, however, it has necessitated that many manufacturers discontinue the use of the old drawingdn frames which were used on the cotton harness, because the eyes of the steel heddles could not be properly positioned so that the needle would penetrate the eye each time. Of course, if an eye should not be properly centered and the needle should contact the heddle at one side of the eye, the needle would be broken.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved means for supporting steel heddles as they are advanced to drawingin position in such a manner that the eyes therein will be positively held in position, so that the 40 needle in a drawing-in frame for cotton harness will penetrate the same upon each reciprocation thereof. The present drawing-in frame embodying my invention has associated therewith, first, apparatus for supporting the loom reed in such a manner that the dents will be properly centered and opened, second, an improved means for advancing steel heddles one at a time to drawingin position, third an improved means for gripping each heddle above and below the eye so that the eye will be properly positioned for the needle to penetrate the same, fourth means for positioning drop wires and finally means for drawing warp ends through successive groups of the above-named loom parts.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drawing-in frame provided with means for receiving and supporting the heddles and heddle bars from a heddle frame, and means for advancing, positioning and holding the heddles while they are pierced by the threading needle of the drawing-in frame, with means for supporting the heddles as a unit while they are again positioned in the heddle frame of a loom.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of an ordinary cotton harness drawing-in machine with portions thereof omitted but showing portions of my invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is a schematic isometric view showing the manner in which the drawing-in needle of the machine shown in Figure 1, operates to draw a warp end through a drop wire, heddle eye, and a loom reed;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken along the line 44 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view with certain portions omitted, taken along the line 55 in Figure 3 showing cam means for gripping the heddle above the eye and a bottom heddle holder therebetween for engaging the heddle below the eye;

Figure 6 is an elevation of my improved frame for holding the heddles while the ends are being drawn therethrough, said view being taken along the line 6-6 in Figure 3;

Figure 7 is an end view, looking at the lefthand end of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an enlarged view of the central portion of Figure 3, looking at the suspended end of the warp worms, showing the heddles, bottom heddle holder and drawing-in needle, but omitting the supporting frame;

Figure 9 is an isometric view of the bottom heddle holder;

Figure 10 is an enlarged view taken along the line l0l0 in Figure 3, showing the cam means on the warp worm turned to gripping position with the heddle and positively holding it in position so that its eye can be penetrated by the needle and also showing the bottom heddle holder in an engaging position;

Figure 11 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken along the line ll-ll in Figure 1 Figure 12 is an elevation of an ordinary heddle frame as it appears removed from a loom with the central portion thereof broken away, showing the position of the heddles and the heddle bars prior to being installed in the frame shown in Figure 6.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral l9 denotes a suitable framework for a drawing-in machine which has a conventional pattern mechanism H and a needle head base I2 (Figure 1). This base has a needle head 14 mounted thereon, in which is slidably mounted for reciprocatory motion, a needle l5 (Figure 3). The needle is reciprocated by a suitable link l6, one end of which is secured to the needle as at I! and its other end secured to the upper end of a vertically disposed lever is as at 20. The lever I9 is pivoted as at 22. A link 23 has one end thereof-secured to an intermediate portion of the lever l9 and its other end eccentrically secured to rotatable disk 24. It is therefore seen that as the disk 24 is rotated that the needle l5 will be caused to reciprocate back and forth in Figure 3. H 4 v Mounted inthe framework I is a suitable threaded shaft 21 which is engaged by a split nut 28 and this nut is secured to base member l2 (Figures 1 and 3). As the shaft 21 rotates, the needle head I4 and its associated parts are moved to the left in Figure 1. A square drive shaft 30 is also rotatably mounted in the framework In and this square shaft has slidably mounted thereon a gear 3! which meshes with; a larger gear 32, said larger gear being adapted to drive the mechanism for actuating the parts of the needle head.

The base member. l2 also has mounted thereon a bracket 35, which bracket hasworrn supports 36, 31, 38, 39 and 40 extending upwardly'therefrom. The member 36 also supports a reed guide 42, and a needle guide 43. Needle guides 44 and 45 are supported by upstanding members 31 and 39, respectively. i

The outermost end of bracket member 35 has extending upwardly therefrom a bracket 45which supports drop wire turn worms 41, which worms are adapted to move; drop wires 48 toward the observer in Figure 3 and turn the same in such a position that the thread eye 48a in the central portion thereof will be disposed at right angles to the pathof travel of the needle l5..,Suitable needle guides 50 are supported by the upper portion of bracket 46.

A warp rod is disposed to the right and slightly above the drop wire turnworms 41 in Figure 3. This warp rod has a spiral groove 52 therein which feeds the warp ends 53 toward the observer in Figures 2 3 and 4, and in; such a position that the needle l5 -will engage the same one at a time when it is in an extended position. The warp ends 53 are drawn from a beam 54 disposed upon a suitable truck 55. These warp ends are clamped directly above the beam by a suitable clamping mechanism 56, after which the Warp ends are drawn over the rod 5| and then the ends are again clamped in a clamping member 51. The clamps 56 and 51 are supported by a warp clamp bracket 60.

The framework l0 also has a superstructure 6| said superstructure comprising a track member 62 upon which reed clamp brackets 63 are adapted to travel, only one being shown. These brackets support loom reed 64, the dents of said reed being adapted to be opened (Figures 2 and 3), by a suitable reed opener 65. Each time the needle l5 reciprocates, it penetrates needle guide 43, loom reed 64, the eye in one of the heddle bars 18', needle guides 44 and 45, drop wires 48,

needle guides 50, after which a quarter turn is imparted to the needle by a conventional mechanism'so that the hook on the end of the needle will be adjacent the advancing warp ends 53 as shown in Figure 4. When the warp rod has turned suiliciently to place the leading warp end 53 in the hook of the needle, the needle is drawn to the left in Figures 3 and 4. After travelling a slight distance, a quarter turn in the opposite direction is again imparted to the needle to restore the same to normal position as shown in Figure 3 at which time the needle hook will be disposed upwardly. A suitable stripper is provided to remove the loose end of the thread which is left upon the hook after the various members have been threaded.

It is therefore seen that the needle I5 reciprocates back and forth, first to the right and then to the left in Figures 3 and 4 to engage an end 53 and draw it through the drop wires 48, the loom reed 64, and one of the heddle bars 18 which will be presently described. A suitable conventional advancing mechanism is provided for advancing each of these respective members except the heddles to their proper positions upon each reciprocation of the needle. The novel heddle advancing means will be later described. The structure thus far described is conventional, but it is thought that this much of the old structure should be disclosed and described in order to more clearly illustrate my present invention.

As heretofore stated, various types of drawingin mechanism have been employed for a long time in drawing-in the warp ends where cotton harness were used. Due to the necessity of having a harness that would last longer, it has been common practice of recent years to use steel heddles. Since steel heddles are made of rigid material, it has been impossible to use the cot-- ton harness drawing-in machine because a slight misplacement of the heddle eye would cause a broken needle and mis-threading. Therefore, when it has been necessary to draw warp ends through steel heddles, this type of machine has been abandoned and tying-in machines have been used instead. I have provided a simple and inexpensive means which may be applied on a drawing-in mechanism of this type, said mechanism being capable of properly positioning the eyes of steel heddles so the needle l5 will penetrate these eyes each time.

Figure 12 shows an ordinary harness frame as it appears when removed from a loom. This frame has removably mounted therein heddle bars 76 and 11 which in turn support the ends of heddles '18. Each heddle is formed from an elongated flat metallic piece which has an eye portion bent to an angle of approximately thirty degrees with the flat side, thereof. An eye 19 is punched through this bent portion so that warp ends 53 may be drawn therethrough by the needle I5 (Figure 11).

The ends of the heddle bars 16 and TI have suitable holes therein which holes are penetrated by the ends of spring clips 80 and 8|, respectively. When these spring clips are removed from the holes in the ends of the heddle bars, these bars together with their associated heddles 18, may be removed from the frame 15. The heddles 18 are separated by the coils of a helicalspring 82. It is customary to apply these springs as a permanent attachment to the harness, a -cord 83 being drawn through the coils to keep the heddles in place in the spring when the. harness isin the loom. When the harness is used in the loom a rod 84 is inserted through the spring for holding the latter near the upper side of the harness. The cord 83 is tied in the manner shown in Figure 12 to hold the coiled spring 82 in elevated position.

When preparing for the drawing-in operation, the spring 82 is moved to the position shown in Figure 6- at which time the coil spring 82 is disposed a slight distance above the heddle eyes I9. Before effecting the drawing-in operation, the heddle bars I6 and 11 together with their associated heddles are removed from the frame I5 and placed in a frame 81, shown in Figure 6. This frame comprises upper and lower T-shaped rails 83 and 89, the ends of said rails being joined together by suitable I-bearn sections and 9!. Disposed between the flanges of the I-beam section 90 and the top andbottom rails 88 and 89 are blocks 92 and 93, and likewise disposed between the flanges of the I-beam section 9! and the top and bottom rails are similar blocks 94 and 95. The blocks 92 and 93 are secured to the top and bottom rails by means of suitable screws 91 and 98 respectively, and these same blocks are secured to the flanges of I-beam section 90 by means of set screws I00 and IOI. The blocks 94 and are secured to the top and bottom rails 88 and 89 by means of screws I02 and I03 respectively, and the flanges on the top and bottom of the member 9| are secured to blocks 94 and 35 by means of screws I04 and I05 respectively. slidably mounted in blocks 92 and 93 are flat bars I08 and I 09, said bars having pins IIO and III respectively therein which limit the movement to the right of these bars in Figure 6. The right-hand end of members I08 and I09 have laterally projecting pins H2 and I I4 respectively therein which pins are adapted to penetrate the holes in the left-hand ends of heddle bars 15 and 11. The right-hand ends of the heddle bars I6 and I! also have suitable holes therein which fit over pins H5 and H6, said pins being disposed in the left-hand end of slidable members II I and I I8, respectively. The members III and H8 are slidably mounted in blocks 94 and 95 as well as in blocks I20 and I2I, which are secured to the upper and lower rails, respectively. The extreme right-hand ends of the members III and H8 are threaded so as to accommodate wing nuts I22 and I23. It is seen that when the heddle bars I6 and II are inserted in position that the holes in their ends will flt over pins H2, H4, H5, and H6. Then it is only necessary to tighten the nuts I22 and I23 to cause the necessary tension to be applied to these bars so that they will remain in the frame. Frame 81 has suitable holes I25 in the upper rail 88 which are adapted to be penetrated by hooks I26 (see Figures 3 and 6). These are ordinary harness hooks, the upper ends of which are supported by longitudinal tracks members I21. When the frames 81 are suspended in the manner shown in Figure 3, the heddles eyes I9 are at the same elevation as the needle guides 43 and 50, and the holes 48a in the drop wires 48. Therefore, a heddle eye must be moved longitudinally of the machine the proper amount each time the needle I5 reciprocates so that its eye will be in position to have a warp end 53 drawn therethrough. The frames 81 do not have as great vertical depth as the heddle frames I5 of the loom, the frames 81 being of such a height as to slidably confine the heddles and thus assume alinement of the eyes I9, with the needle I5, as their lower ends rest on the bottom rail 89. It will be noted by referring to Figure 3 that four heddle frames 81 such as indicated in Figure 6 are shown. Of course, a heddle from one of these frames is selected at a predetermined time which time is determined by the pattern mechanism II. It is understood that only one heddle eye of the four frames will be in a position to be penetrated upon each swing of the needle I5, but the heddles which are in the various frames may be advanced at the desired time.

This advancing means comprises a suitable warp worm which turns at the desired time to position a heddle. In the present case, the four frames 81 which have the heddles I8 secured therein, have warp worms I35, I36, I31 and I38, the worms I35 and I36 forming a pair, and the worms I 31 and I38 forming a pair. It will be noted (Figure 4) that each of the worms I35 and I31 have a right-hand spiraled groove I39 disposed therein, whereas each of the worms I 35 and I38 have a left-hand spiralled groove therein. The worms I35, I36, and I 37 and I38 are integral with rods I4I, I42, I43 and I44, respectively, which rods extend from the pattern mechanism II as shown in Figure- 1. When the frames 8'! are suspended as shown in Figure 3, the leading ends, that is the ends nearest the observer, of the rods I4I, I42 and I43 and I44 are inserted into the spiralled helical coils 82, and upon the rotation of these rods it is seen that the worms on each of these shafts will advance heddle I8 and force it to the right in Figure 1. In other Words, for each revolution of a warp worm, a heddle is drawn into one of the grooves I39 and I40. However, it should be noted that due to the opposite pitch of the worms I35 and I30 it is necessary for the rods MI and I42 to rotate in opposite directions in order to feed the heddles through the worms. After the worms have advanced a heddle I3 to the central position, as shown in Figure 10, the Worm stops and the heddle remains in this centered position until the needle I5 penetrates the eye thereof. Then the worm makes another one-half revolution to move the heddle out of piercing position. At the same time the worm I36 makes a half turn to advance another heddle to piercing position.

By referring to Figure 11 it is seen that the eyes I9 are disposed at an angle a with the flat side of the heddle I8. This angle is usually about thirty degrees and if the heddle is held in this position there is very little difliculty in causing the needle I5 to properly .penetrate the eye 19. However, due to the shape of the grooves in spiraled Worms, there is a tendency for the heddle to rotate slightly in a counterclockwise manner in Figure 11 thereby causing the hole in the eye I9 to be improperly positioned for penetration. In order to insure that the heddle will be turned to the proper position when the eye reaches piercing position, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, it has been necessary to provide :a suitable cam M1 on one of the walls of the groove I39. This cam surf-ace partially closes the groove I 33 so that the oam will engage one side of the heddle bar and turn it past dead center toward the opposite side of the groove I39. Immediately after the projection on the sidewall of the spiral groove engages-a heddle and turns it, the flipper I50 engages the heddle and finishes turning the heddle to press it against the opposite Wall of the spiral groove and straight wall I5Ia and I52a, thus preventing further axial movement of the heddle. This insures that the eye 19 will always be positioned to allow the needle I5 to pass therethrough. The groove I40 in worm I36 has a similar cam surface I48. This cam likewise cooperates with the opposite side of the groove I40 and serves to turn the heddle in the proper direction.

The worms I35 and I38 inclusive work intermittently but it should be noted that it is when the cam surfaces I41 and I48 rotate to contacting position with the heddle I8 as shown in Figure 10 that the worms stop for a sufficient length of time to allow the needle I5 to draw an end therethrough. These worms are off set slightly with relation to each other to insure that while the needle is penetrating the eye of a heddle which is centered, that the heddles which are disposed in the adjacent worms will be out of contacting position with the needle. By simply providing a cam means adjacent the spir-alled groove the axial play of the heddle is prevented and thereby the eye I9 is caused to be held in proper position so that the needle I5 may penetrate the same and draw an end therethrough.

Immediately after the contacting of the heddle I8 by either of the cams M1 or I48, an additional holding means I50 moves into contact with the heddle below the eye. By referring to Figure 8, the two positions that this bottom heddle holder I50 assume may be seen. In bold line position the heddle holder is in normal position; whereas in dotted line position, it is engaging a heddle I8 on an adjacent frame. This bottom heddle holder I50 has notches I5I and I 52 therein which contact the heddle bar I8 immediately after the contacting of the upper portion of the heddle bar by the cams I41 and I48. By virtue of the shape of this notch, heddle bars I8 are firmly engaged (Figure 11) so that the lower portion of the heddle will be supported and held in position. These notches -I5I and I52 have one sidewall I 5Ia and 1520, which is at a right angle to the axis of rotation, and the other sidewall I5Ib or I52b is sloping, the sloping side being adapted to contact the heddle and force it against the sidewall I5Ia or I'52a to insure that the heddle will be in piercing position. This bottom heddle holding means is mounted on the end of a shaft I53 which extends into the pattern mechanism II. The direction that this shaft oscillates is dependent entirely upon the frame from which heddle eye I9 has been selected to be penetrated by the needle I5. Likewise the warp worms I31 and I38 have cam surfaces I41 and M8, respectively, said cam surfaces and worms being identical in all respects to the cam surfaces and worms previously described.

Each of the worm rods MI and I44 inclusive has a rotatable fitting I55 secured on the end thereof, said fitting having an enlarged hole I56 therein with a longitudinal slot I51 communicating with this hole. When the heddle frame 8! is first placed in position within the drawing-in frame as shown in Figure 3, the ends of the rods l4I, I42, I43 and I44 are inserted into a helical coil 82, so that the heddles may .be moved one at a time into piercing position. As these heddles are pierced and threaded, they are advanced toward the observer in Figures 3 and 4 along with the helical coil 82.

In order that this coil may be properly supported after it has advanced off of the ends of the rods MI and I44 inclusive, a suitable cord such as indicated by reference characters 83 (Figure 12) has one end thereof knotted and fastened into the fitting I55, and as the heddles are advanced they are pushed onto this cord. When the entire frame has been threaded, then a suitable rod 8 4 is inserted into this coil and then the coil and cord are lifted until they assume the position as shown in Figure 12 relative to the upper heddle bar I6, after Which the cord 83 is tied at each end to hold the rod 84 and coil spring 82 in position.

It is, therefore, seen that I have provided a. simple means for supporting steel heddles above and below the eyes in such a manner that the same may be accurately penetrated by the drawing-in needle on a conventional cotton harness drawing-in frame. This means although simple, has served a long-felt need in that it has made useful machines out of obsolete cotton drawing-in frames. With this improvement, it is possible to draw in warp ends through steel heddles in just as an effective manner as these ends have been heretofore drawn through the eyes of the cotton harness.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a warp drawing-in frame having means for holding and feeding the warp ends and means for holding drop wires and loom reeds and heddles and a reciprocating needle for penetrating the reed, the heddles, the drop wires and engaging the warp ends one at a time and drawing the same through the drop wires, the heddles and the reed, a frame, means for securing heddle bars from a steel loom heddle in said frame to support steel heddles in the frame, means for advancing the heddles in said frame one at a time, comprising a rotatable member having a spiral groove therein, said groove having a projection on one of its sidewalls for engaging a heddle and turning the same when it has reached a position to be pierced by the needle, and means for also engaging the heddle turned by said projection and turning it until the heddle rests against the sidewall of the spiral groove opposed to the projection, to insure that the eye in the heddle will be in alinment with the path travelled by the needle.

2. In a drawing-in frame having a needle for drawing warp ends, a plurality of frames disposed within the drawing-in frame, each frame having bottom and top rails and a pair of end rails, means disposed on one end of the frame for engaging one end of a pair of heddle bars removed from a steel heddle frame of a loom, means on the other end of the frame for engaging the other ends of the heddle bars and imparting tension thereto to confine the heddle bars with their heddles to rest on the bottom rail of the frame in the drawing-in machine, and the top rail of the frame being in close proximity to the upper ends of the heddles, whereby substantial vertical movement of the heddles will be prevented to insure that the eyes in the heddles will be on the same level as the path of travel of the needle of the drawing-in frame.

3. In a drawing-in frame provided with a drawing-in needle and having a plurality of frames disposed in parallel spaced relation to each other, means in each frame for receiving and confining the heddle bars and heddles removed from a steel heddle frame in a loom, each of the heddles having an eye therein, a coiled spring disposed adjacent the eyes of the heddles and separating the heddles, a rod disposed in said coiled spring and having an enlarged portion thereon provided with a spirally disposed groove, in which the heddles are adapted to be disposed, means for intermittently imparting rotation to the rod to advance the heddles towards the point traversed by the needle, one of the sidewalls of the groove having a projection thereon for imparting axial movement to a heddle, and movable means for engaging the heddle adjacent to but on the other side of the eye after it has been turned by engagement with said projection, for further turning the heddle and holding the heddle against the sidewall of the groove which is opposed to the projection to insure that the heddle eye will be in position to be traversed by the needle.

4. In a drawing-in frame having frames for supporting a plurality of sets of heddle bars and steel heddles removed from the heddle frames of a loom, a worm having a spiral groove therein for contact with each set of heddles adjacent the eyes thereof, said drawing-in frame having a reciprocating needle for piercing the eyes of the heddles for drawing a warp thread therethrough, means for selectively turning one of the worms for advancing one heddle in one of the sets to a position traversed by the needle, means associated with each worm for imparting axial movement to its heddle advanced into the path of travel of the needle, and movable means for engaging the heddle at a point on the other side of the eyes from where the worm contacts the heddles after it has had axial movement imparted thereto, for further turning the heddle and holding it in fixed position while the needle pierces the eye of the heddle.

5. In a warp drawing-in frame provided with a reciprocating needle and means for holding and advancing a reed, and means for holding and advancing drop wires, and means for advancing the warp, so as to position the reed, the drop wires and the warp in alinement with the path of the needle, a plurality of frames disposed in the drawing-in frame and having means for receiving and holding heddle bars and steel heddles removed from the heddle frames in a loom, a worm member associated with each set of heddles, a pattern means controlling rotation of the worm members for advancing one heddle at a time in on of the frames prior to each reciprocation of the needle, said worm member having a spiral groove therein for engaging and advancing the heddles, one of the sidewalls of said groove having a projection thereon for turning a heddle, and a member movable into engagement with a turned heddle for completing the turning movement and holding it against the side of the wall of the groove opposite said projection whereby the heddle eye will be disposed in the path of the needle so that the needle may pass successively through the reed, the heddle eye, a selected drop wire, and engage the selected warp end and draw said warp end through said drop wire, the selected heddle, and the reed.

6. That method of drawing-in warp ends in a drawing-in frame which comprises removing the heddle bars and steel heddles from a heddle frame in a loom and placing the same in a drawing-in frame, then advancing the heddles one at a time to drawing-in position, axially rotating the heddles one at a time and holding the advanced heddles in threading position, passing a warp thread through the heddle eyes, then removing the heddles from the drawing-in frame and replacing the same along the warp ends therein in a loom heddle frame.

ERWIN C. KIEKE. 

